It has been a whirlwind of a season for LeBron James as he had to get accustomed to playing as The post LeBron James-led Lakers Better Without Luka Doncic, Claims Skip Bayless appeared first on FirstSportz.

LeBron James and the LA Lakers are doing really well without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in the first round against the Houston Rockets.

As effective as the Lakers have been in Luka Doncic's absence, Skip Bayless took things a step further.

HOUSTON — There’s a moment in every great player’s career when the noise around them gets loud enough and the world decides it knows what the ending should be before the final chapter has been written.

Luka Doncic scored 60 points, LeBron James had a triple-double on a night where he tied the NBA record for games played, and the Los Angeles Lakers pushed their season-best winning streak to eight games with a 134-126 win over the Miami Heat on Thursday night.

Until he sustained a Grade 2 hamstring injury last Thursday, Luka Doncic was enjoying one of the best seasons of his NBA career. He arrived with the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 amidst criticism about his lack of conditioning and lack of defensive effort, and he started to do something about that criticism this past summer.

LeBron James admits Los Angeles Lakers still thinking about Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves despite win vs Warriors.

LeBron James, stifing defense, new sources of offense and determination have fueled the Lakers in taking a 2-0 lead over the Rockets in the playoffs.